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Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve heard about Mug Cakes by now: cakes that can be made quickly and right in your microwave whenever the mood strikes. Some recipes have a list of ingredients so long you may as well make a full size cake in the oven and be the hero that you are. We are chocolate people so our main goal in life is to eat chocolate and create other reasons to eat chocolate as well as conveyances for said chocolate. We put so much time and energy into making amazing chocolate the rest of life must be simple. Which brings us to the Chocolate Angel Food Mug Cake.

This is not a cake you really want to eat plain, with no hidden chocolate or other accouterments unless you’re a really boring person and you have such culinary misgivings as believing ketchup is “too spicy” then by all means, dig in. This cake is meant to be a vehicle for our already scrumptious chocolates. Before you cook this gem in the microwave you’re going to add one of our bite size confections to the mix. One minute later your cake is ready (no joke), you have turned your favorite chocolate into a full-blown dessert and the instant gratification is so good you’ll feel like a millennial.

Step 3: Add 4 Tablespoons of water to your mug and stir until well combined. At this point you’ll have some kind of frothy brown liquid that looks like the weird low-fat hot chocolate your mom tried to give you in the 80’s. Don’t worry; we’re about to improve that.

Step 8: EAT. Your chocolate is sitting in a pool of melted heaven at the bottom of the mug so you have two options: 1) dig down deep with each bite and capture a little bit of chocolate on your spoon each time 2) stir this cake up! Mix in the chocolate, whipped cream and cake until you’ve got something that looks terrible and tastes AMAZING.

Put a little note on your container of mix to remind yourself 6 Tablespoons mix, 4 Tablespoons water, 1 Minute in the microwave and you’ll be one minute away from Chocolate Angel Food Cake bliss any time you please.

If you’ve ever stepped foot into Wilbur’s of Maine at Easter time, you’ve met the BFB (that’s Big Friendly Bunny). He’s typically in the front of the store, waiting to greet you and while he is seated on a sturdy table, he towers over most customers (or at least meets you eye to eye). We look forward to his arrival each year, marking our hopeful return of Spring and warm weather!

While we know all BFB’s secrets, you may have a few questions. How tall is he? How much does he weigh? Is it solid? Have you ever sold one? Well let’s end the mysteries of the BFB and tell you how this scrumptious treat came to be.

In the Beginning

We first started making BFB about 20 years ago. Obviously eye catching, he was awe inspiring to our pint size customers and a little comical to our adult patrons. That was enough to turn BFB into a tradition around these parts. “He was originally solid chocolate,” Andy Wilbur, owner of Wilbur’s of Maine, tells us. BFB is hollow now. So how is he made?

The Process

First our chocolatier Lydia begins by painting the basket portion of the mold with dark chocolate so BFB will have a little visual contrast.

Next, the two sides of the mold are held together with dozens of nuts bolts and washers, turning our BFB from two to three dimensional.

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Then, Lydia begins to fill the mold with our smooth milk chocolate. She is not trying to fill up BFB, she is just adding enough chocolate to make a solid coat on the inside, creating a shell. Lydia checks for an even coat and to make sure there are no big air bubbles in this first coat, rotating the mold for full coverage. The process continues adding more chocolate, rotating, etc. Lydia uses her Ninja Chocolatier Sense to “feel” when BFB weighs about the right amount and visual checks for thickness to know when to stop the coating.

What about a bottom? There is no bottom to the plastic mold, so Lydia lets gravity do the work. When the sides are ready she turns the BFB onto his bottom and slides it into the cooler. The chocolate that is still warm and melted inside the mold slides on down and forms a solid bottom!

Sounds easy? Well since BFB is about three feet tall and around 20 lbs. so it’s a bit of a wrestling match. Then the real nail-biter comes when Lydia is trying to get BFB out of the mold. “He likes to crack before fully separating from the mold. So I basically have to babysit with it half out of the cooling closet, poking and prodding and gently convincing the mold to release.” And she has lost a few: “you mutter a few choice phrases, take it out and start again.” Lydia enjoys the challenge of BFB and might actually look forward to it every year, but she’d never say so.

The Takeaway

We have been known to sell a BFB a time or two, but it’s not very often and that’s OK with us. He’s for the show, the conversation, the fun. If you haven’t seen BFB for yourself it’s time to make the pilgrimage to Wilbur’s of Maine and see what confections this Big Friendly Bunny has brought with him this year; before he hits the bunny trail again.

There is a great event here in Freeport organized by FreeportUSA called Flavors of Freeport. While it has evolved into a weekend long extravaganza of food activities, the night we look forward to the most each year is the Chef Signature Series. Local restaurants, purveyors, confectioners (that’s us), breweries and the like gather to offer samples of a dish or libation that they believe best represents their business.

Our tablescape at the Chef Signature Series- part of the Flavors of Freeport event in Freeport, Maine.

Andy Wilbur likes to use this as an opportunity to think outside the box. Most of what we create day to day at the factory is limited by its shelf life. At an event like Chef Signature Series Andy can craft a confection for immediate consumption, opening a larger window of confectionary possibilities. Enter this year’s triumphs: “Meet me at Hogsmeade” and “Say it isn’t Samoa.”

Now, if you have a rudimentary understanding of the Harry Potter series you may recognize the name Hogsmeade. The Harry Potter series is a personal interest of Andy and he was able to create a truffle as a nod to the now infamous drink of young and old in the books: Butterbeer. Nestled in a dark chocolate cup was the vanilla caramel truffle, topped with homemade butterscotch marshmallow. People lost the ability to form coherent sentences after indulging in one of these luscious truffles, and no, it wasn’t from alcohol (these were alcohol free) it was the sheer culinary delight that over took them as they chewed and were transported to a place they had only imagined in their minds; the bustling tavern of Hogsmeade.

As if that wasn’t enough Andy went ahead and decided to blow our minds with a salute to everyone’s favorite Girl Scout cookie the Samoa or as you may now know them, Caramel Delights. Toasted coconut nougat and vanilla caramel, enrobed in milk chocolate and topped with more toasted coconut. It was a rich, but not too sweet; a little crunchy and not too chewy bite of perfection that had us wishing our cookie orders were in already.

This event is always exciting-laughter, old friends, old neighbors and new customers dancing and eating and drinking. The reactions among the crowd were clear: yum, where can I get this chocolate after tonight? Because of the fresh piped butterscotch marshmallow on our Meet me at Hogsmeade that delight will not be available in stores in the same form as it was at Chef Signature Series. There are talks of transforming the confection into a more long lasting (and less messy) chocolate. Good news is “Say it isn’t Samoa” is coming to a store near you this month under its new name: “Cocomels”. Nothing has changed about these milk chocolate dreamboats so pick some up in honor of your favorite Scout.

We had the honor of coming in First Place in the “Sweets” category that evening, a wonderful end to a great event. If you ever have the chance to be in Freeport in February we highly recommend tickets to the Chef Signature Series where you can be our willing guinea pigs and taste the next big confection before it reaches stores.

I handle Whole Foods accounts from the start. We started selling to Whole Foods in 2010 and we now have 40 accounts. Each day I’m checking emails, printing orders, checking the weather for shipping to see if we need to use cooler packs and freezer cases. Shipping and prepping for shipment, making labels, checking the production schedule to make sure we will have the product we need when we need it. I also get together the things we need for Friday demos at Whole Foods.

2. That sounds like a lot of tasks! Is this the only position you’ve had at Wilbur’s or did you start in another department first?

This is the only position I’ve had in the two and a half years I’ve worked here. I do work in the panning room on Fridays as well when I’m not doing a demo.

3. How did you get started at Wilbur’s?

I answered an ad on Craiglist!

4. What is your favorite part of the job?

I love getting the product to the vendors. It’s a quality product, so much so that a lot of people who say they “don’t like candy” like our candy and chocolates, so that means a lot.

5. Is there a least favorite part?

Well, probably summer season just because it adds another element of stress. Nothing we can’t handle, but there is a lot of extra steps because you want to make sure things arrive safely so we’re checking weather, shipping with cool packs or in cooler boxes.

6. What makes Wilbur’s different from other places you’ve worked?

Here there is more verbal or face-to-face communication, not a chain of command that has to be followed. Also I get to know the customers personally because I’m taking their calls and orders big and small.

7. Do you think that is an important part of business; that personal touch?

I think the vendors appreciate and I know that seeing the owners here every day means that they listen and understand the human side of their employees, which I appreciate.

8. What do you want customers to know about Wilbur’s?

How much work and pride go into all our products. The owner is here every day, staying on top of the quality. The proof is in the taste!

9. Do you have a favorite chocolate we make?

Scotch Kisses! And anything with our homemade marshmallow. Cookie Butter Nom Noms are good, too, but we don’t have those right now!

Lots of people think our busiest season in the chocolate business is Valentine’s Day. Flowers and chocolates, teddy bear and chocolates, champagne and chocolates; it might be hard for you to think back on a Valentine’s Day when you didn’t give or receive chocolate, am I right? Well, while we do see a surge in business around the big day it is not our “busiest” time. It is, however, a fun time in the factory.

Here in New England we are in the depths of the winter doldrums, we are coming down off the Christmas season production and we like creating confections with a little whimsy. Enter the Cinnamon Cream!

This unassuming chocolate has a sweet heart shape and is nestled in a heart printed cup. Inside the chocolate is a smooth Cinnamon flavored cream center. The chocolate cools the heat of the cinnamon for a creamy finish that is simply divine.

If you are familiar with Wilbur’s of Maine the first thing you may notice is that this is not our typical cream. That is because the cinnamon cream is a cooked fondant based cream while our other creams are uncooked.

The result? Smaller sugar crystals for a softer finished product.

So soft, in fact, that it can actually be funneled into forms and that is how we get the heart shape on this beauty.

Everything is done by hand, as you can see. We cook in copper pots, ladle into funnels and fill each heart shape one by one with funnel and stopper.

Once cooled the creams shrink slightly and naturally release from the form when turned over.

Then it’s time for everyone’s favorite ingredient: chocolate! They are sent down the enrober to be coated in milk chocolate. Later, we will make another batch and use dark chocolate instead.

They are hand-packed and head to our stores to be used in Valentine assortments and more! Send your Valentine a red hot chocolate sweet from Wilbur’s!

One of our best selling chocolates is the Maine Sea Salt Caramel. It’s salty and sweet, creamy and, of course, rich in chocolate goodness. Sometimes we find ourselves eating one, and then another, and maybe another. We got to thinking: how can we make these flavors even BIGGER? More chocolate, more caramel and a hint more sea salt….the Salted Caramel Brownie was born. It’s fudgy, messy, chewy and delicious. They are easy enough to make on a weeknight and decadent enough to bring to a potluck. Break out the mixing bowl; you’ll want to make these tonight.

One of the things I love most about the “Candy Making Industry” is the sense of community between different confectioners. Wherein some industries take great steps to insure their company’s policies and practices are kept private, Candy people tend to be very open and sharing with their knowledge. This includes recipes, methods … heck most anything.

One of the basics of chocolate handling is a little process called Tempering. Thanks to those good folks churning out bags of chocolate pieces you can get at the grocery store most of us think we can throw some chocolate in the microwave to melt and call it a day. However, have you ever been working with melted chocolate, making some chocolate covered cookies for example or pretzels or what-have-you and the chocolate looked cloudy or turned white when it cooled? Aha! Your chocolate was not in temper! Fear not, those cloudy morsels are still edible, the chocolate is not “old,” the white color comes from cocoa butter crystals.